Automobile-lock.



A. H. STYURGES.

AUTOMOBILE LOCK. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2.1917.

Patented Nov. 27, 1917.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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fHThWHSTw I av'roxommmoox;

. To it may cont/emf Be it known, thatl, ARTHUR H S'rU Rons,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State J v of Nebraska, have invented certain new'a-nd useful Improvements in Automobile Locks,"

of which the following is a specification.

'Thi'sinvention relates to an improvement in automobile locks for controlling arota tion of the steering wheel to prevent use of the vehicle byunauthorized persons, and has for one of its ob'ects toprovide a lock which will be effecti e for this purpose and will-consist of few and simple parts so that 15 men Ire will be practical and. economie arts to be durable and convenient "in Another object is to provide a lock so arranged that'it may be readily and cons venientl fap lied at any time to the tubular I, t'anda'r fang wheel of an automobile without requiringstructural chan es, and by any person' ofordinary skill. till .another'object is to provide such a construc .tion for the lock that the steerin'g'shaft may be shifted". longitudinally," without disarranging any'of the parts;j whenever an adjustment'of, steering gear is required,

With thejnforegoing objects in view and 1 others to "h'e inentionedfhereinafter, the invention presents anovel=construct1on, com

bination and arrangement of parts, as de scribgd herein and claimedi, and'as illlus" 'tratein the accom an in rawi w erea p y g ngi j standard so that,: normally, the' sleeve will not prevent a free rotatable movementofthe v 85 .Figure 1 is agpl'an view showing the hub' of asteering wheel and the upper endportion of the tubular standard and steering shaft, with the lock applied, parts being broken away; Fig. 2 is :1: view in longitudi- :nal section through wheel and the loc 'ng'device;

, Figc3i$ah end view of a casting used as a sleeve-holder and a housmg for the lock,

and 'Fi'g. 4 shows a transverse section of the a same. Fig. 5. is aside view of the sleeve. Figs 6 is a sectional view on km 6 6 of F1g.' 5. Fig. '7 is aside View of aconventional lock employed, the locking bolt hemg shown, in an ,u right position, a key being also shown. igl 8 is another viewfof the lock, the locking bolt being shown in a horizontal position. Fig. 9 is a side Y w and m 10 s a" plan view of a clamping-bar.

' Specification of iiettersfatenfl Application m d March 2 ,1917; "ser'1a1'na1'51'3eaf necting the clamping-barsf Figs'12 shows.

movement of the vehiclerthe tubularstandtionedn annular rack ormed betweenits end the v emcFloyed, the ends of the grooves defining the hub of the steering. i

m nu

is aside view of one of thef bolts for con- I v a side view ofa keeper ordowel pin for the" bolt Shown in Fig. 111;

Referring now to the draw" for a more I particular description, numeral 1 indicates the hub of an automobile steering wheel to the steering shaft 2 being'vu sually secur thereto'by means of the set-pin or key 3 i and at 4 is indicated the tubular standardfor containing the steering shaft,

said member 4- being stationary Wlthffliflj 5 vehicle frame. The parts mentioned are,

' in general use upon automobiles, the steering I wheel, a part of which is in dicatedat being manually rotatedfor rotating. the shaft 'to guide or control ther direction of ard being non-revoluble' 'for'the reason men- In order that the, means. movements of the steering wheel may be under con trol, and to prevent unauthorized use of an automobile, I provide the" device,

consisting, in art;y.of aTslee've 6 havingan' I elongated ridges a and g'rooves b "of the ad rack'having a len hconslder'ably inne'xeess of the width of t e. lockingkbolt .14'fto be 1 I I -walls or stops 0 and d for the annular a rack, the sleeve having adiaineter somewhat greater than the diameter oifthf tubular steering wheel, the outerend s' o t theisleev o being secured to, the hub 'by any 'su'italzule means, the means herein fsl'idwnf being pins or keepers 7, preferably havilig than: outer ends disposed'flush' wlth thesuifface ofthe sleeve, so that they willgn otjbe 'r'emov- At 8 is indicated a casting which provides a housing for the sleeve 6 and lock, n ;It}con-H sins of a tubular part9 avin a aim a suflicient to lie adjacent to theysleeve-gfieo thatynormally, said sleeve fiftogetherWith 100 the steering wheel may freelylrotated, the

inner end of said sleevedbeinz dis'posedyad:

jacent to the inwardlyprojecting ledge I of the casting H 1 Other parts of thficastlng hqu :10 mist e slem n mwber" 11 of I semi-circular form, conforming substan tially tothe curvature of the standard, and. disposed adjacent to and outwardly] of the ledge 10, and a compartment or pocket 12 opening upon the inner side of the tubular part 9 for receiving a lock 13, said lock'be:

mg of a conventional kindorpatternz In order that the lock may be conveniently inserted in the pocket or compartment and" may be securely held therein, said compartment is formed with a part f which 1s; rec- 'tangularin plan-and rectangular in cross-- section, corresponding to the shape of the casing g of the lock which carries the lock ing bolt '14; also itis formed'with a lesser compartment orrecess Ii conforming in width,- "substantially, 'to the length of the housing 7: forcontaining the barrel m which carries the key 15 0f the-lock.

A small aperture 16 is formed in thewall 1 of the lesser compartment h to permit the key 15 to be, inserted in the lock, and it will be understood that, when assembling the parts, the lock is placed in the pocket from the'inner side of the tubular "part 9,, its casing g substantially filling the rec-' tangular partf of the compartment, the outer end of the housing of said lock being disposedadjacent to the small aperture 16- mentioned, and the bolt 14 being disposed radiallyof the tubular part 9 at the open end of the rectangular compartment ,rand

by use efthe -key,-the bolt 1i may be t rowi 9 or may be withdrawn therefrom. i;

It will be understood that the compartinwardly of th'e tubular part ments f and h are for the purpose of-pro.-

viding suchf-ahousing for the lock that any displacement or removal thereof will bequite impossible. v The. rectangi'ilar part securely holds the rectangular casing. 9' so that the lock willsremain 1n OPGIZltU'Q posi-' tion at all timesfor throwing orfre'tracting the bolt. The form of the lock and its casing shown'hereinis preferred, but may be changed, and if a different form is desired,

' the fornrof the pocket, of course, may, be

changed to conform thereto. -Numeral l'l-imdicates a secondclamping member, this being of semi-circular form and provided at itsends vithaperturcd lugs a corresponding to the*'*apcrtured lugs '12 of the clamplng member 11 l the casting 8. .The parts maybe read mounted upon the hub as abo've described;

The casting or housing ,8 .isthen moved uponv the standard toward the hubnnt l ltS ledge 10 abuts upon the end of thesleeve -6, the tubular part 9 overhanging the grooves and ridgesof the annular rack, so that. or-

dinarilyfthey will not be observable.

clamping bar 11 by use ofl the pair of threaded bolts 18, or equivalent .means, in a Tho clamping bar 1 7 is then securetb to the manner to permanently secureithe housing or casting 8 non-revolubleor-in fixed rela- I tion'upon-the tubular standard, lugs or im'- paling elements 19. preferably beingprovided on the concaved side of the clamping member 11, which, by compression effected by the bolts, will enter the convexed wall of the standard as additional holding means.

, After the bolts'hate been rotated in'a manner to cause a suitable degree .of compresion of the clamping members upon the tubular standard, dowel" pins 20- are inserted in recesses 21 with which the clamping bars so that their ends will be disposed flush with the surfacesv adjacent thereto, to prevent remov-ah It willbe seenthat the device, asidefrom '11 are provided, saidpin's traversing ape-r tures 22 wh1ch are for1ned 'm the'bolts, and m'practice, the pmsQOaredrWen home,

the conventional lockfandbolts', requires three parts only, and-thereforeproduction may be comparatively i'neX-ensive- -The= parts maybe readily applied y anordinary workman, and areso arranged that the-(1e vice is convenient in use, and a longitudinal ,ad ust'ment of the steering shaft may beeffected whenever requiredfthis.being an i-mportant feature, as'willbe explained.

Since the sleereG secured to the hub,

and the housing whiclrcarries the lock is-b secured to the standard" 4, it is apparent that theconstructi on permits a longitudinal adjustm'ent of the steering shaft, said shaft, 7

together with the" hub and sleeve moving outwardly o1 inwardly of the stationary sup- .port or standard such limited distance as may be required for its adjustments, and on.

that account the ridges and grooves 11 and b i must have a length considerablygreater than the width of the'c'onventional lockingbolt 1st, so that said" bolt may engage in a groove of the rack. v

The clamping members, as described, are

therefore of great advantage. since they pro vide means-for readily securing thecasting in such amanner that it will remain perma'; nently upon such partof the standard,longitud'inally thereof, as may be required, so

that lheledge 10 will be disposed at a suit- 11.5

able distance from the end wall (Z of the sleeve. and that the outer end a of the starnh .ard' will be disposed at a. suitable distance from "the hub. to permit the longitudinal adjustments of the steering shaft to be made,

as mentioned.atany time after the device has been applied. V I It is obvious that the stop-members d of the sleeve} 6 will prevent remoyalof the \vheelwheu the-bolt 1-l is disposed in a grom'o lu' said stopgmcmber operating to limit an outward- .movrm-ont of-thc sleeve from tbestamlard.thi being oi z'ulvantago and quite ndrussauv to correct operation of the locking means, for the reason that, if' 0 ing-bar being in engagement with the standbination tain the a 'non-revoluble, revoluble with the wheel and sleeve are removed, another wheel could be substituted for controlling the movements of the vehicle, which the neseut,"construction, it is considered, prevents,. i v

Having fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,--

1. A locking device, comprising, in combination with a non-revolublc, tubular standard and a nornmlly rotatable steering shaft provided with a hub and disposed in the standard, a sleeve revoluble with the hub and provided with an annular rack circuiuscribing the standard, a casting having a tubular part circumscribing the annular rack and provided with a compartment opening on said tubular part, means to maintain the casting stationary with the standard in spaced relation with refere'ne to the sleeve, and a locking-bolt disposed within the compartment and arranged to have a movement radially of the tubular part of the casting for engaging the annularrack to prevent a rotatable movement of said hub.

2. A locking device, comprising, in comwith a non-revoluble, tubular standard and a normally rotatable steering shaft provided with a hub and disposed in the standard, a sleeve movable with the hub and provided with an annular rack circumscribing .the standard, a casting formed with a semi-circular clamping-bar and having a tubular partwith a compartment opening thereon and provided with an inwardly projecting, annular ledge defining a. terminal of its tubular part, said casting being disposed with its tubular part circ'uinscribing the annular rack, the clampard, a second semi-circular clamping-bar disposed in opposed relation to and connected the first named clamping-bar for enga; aeni with the standard to main ge the casting at a selected distance from the end of the sleeve, and a locking-bolt disposed within said com artinent'for bei-ng'reciprocated radially 0 said tubular part for engaging with and being disengaged from the annular rack, to con trol rotatablemm'ements of the hub.

3. In a locking device for thenormally rotatable steering shaft, said shaft being provided with a hub and being disposel in tubular standard, a sleeve the hub and provided with an annular rack, a casting having a tubular part circnmscribing the sleeve and provided with 'a clamping-member, a second clamping-member, keepers engaging the clamping-members and adapted to be rotated for moving the second clamping-member'in a direction of the first named clamping-member to secure said clamping-members in fined relation with the standard, means to precasting having a tubular part circumscrib-- ing the annular rack and provided with a clamping-member and an inwardly projecting annular ledge at the inner terminal of said tubular part, a second clampingmember, a pair of bolts engaging and being rota-table for pressing the casting upon the standard and to maintain the ledge of said casting adjacent to the annular rack, means for preventing a rotatable movement of said 'bolts after the casting has been pressed upon the standard, and a locking-bolt arranged .to have a, movement inwardly of the tubular part of thecasting for engaging the annular rack to prevent a rotatable movement of said hub.

5. A locking device, comprising, in combination with a non-revoluble, tubular standardand a normally rotatable steering shaft provided with a hub and disposedin the standard, a sleeve revoluble with the hub and provided with an annular rack circumscribing the standard, a casting having a clampingmember provided with an impaling-element and having a tubular part circumscribing the annular rack, means to ress the clamping-member and its impal lug-element against the, standard for maintaining said casting stationary with the standard and to maintain the casting in spaced relation with the sleeve, and a, locking-bolt arranged to have a movement radially of the tubular part of the casting for engaging the annular rack to prevent a rotatable movement of said hub.

6. In a locking device for the'normally rotatable steering shaft of an automobile,

said shaft being provided with a hub and I being disposed in a non-revoluble, tubular standard, a sleeve movable with the hub and annular ledge and hav-.

secure said clamping-members in fixed re-' stop-members at the en s casting yinner end of the sleeve,

rotation of said keepers after the second clampingmmmber; has

locking-bar disposed transversely of; the tnlation with a -selected part'longitudinally of tliez'standard to maintain the annn'lar ledge casting in spaced relation with, the means to prevent a of "said been moved, and a bular partz-otthe casting for moving into tirigagernentwith the annular rack to prevent a revolnble movcmentyofthe hub.

' ,7. In a'locking device for ,a normal1'y, r'o- 'tatablesteering shaft of the type described, said shaft being provided with a hub and being. disposed in a non-revoluble, tubular 15" a,

stan rd, 'a sleeve revolnble With-thehub,

I said sleeve being providedlongitudinally 1 standard, a lockingbar carriedhy the'tub1 lar part-of-t-he' casting rooves and having of said grooves,fa. having a tubiilar part circumscribsleeve, c1anipingmembers for securfixed relation with the thereof with" elongated ing the ing he casting in for a movement with in one of the grooves, said locking-bar having a vvidthiless than the distance between thestop-menibersto permit adjustments to be made of the casting longitudinally of the standard and to prevent a revo'hibleinove tatable stee'ringshatt inent of the hub with reference to the standard.

8. In alocking device fora normally roof; the type described,

said shaft being'fprovidedwith a hub and of with elongated grooves and stop-members at'the ends of the groovea a a" tubularpart circnmscribing u0n and fat I-selecte'd the tubular part of. the

being. disposed 1n -a non-revoluble, tubirlar standard, a sleeve revolnble with'the hub, said sleeve being provided longitudinally therecasting having the sleeve, for securin the casting longitudinal intervals the standard, a locking-bar carried by casting for. a movement. within one' or the grooves interme-- ela-rnping-nie hers dia-te the stop-members to prevent a revolublemovement of the hub and sleeve with casting to be'secnred at said selected longitn'dina'lintervals of thestandard.

In testimonvwvhereof have'afiixed my signature 111 presence of 'two vitnessesi I Witnesses: I

HlRAM A. S'rUnGEs,

,RAYMOnD D. SELMQOB.

ARTHUR siren-ensreferenceto the standard and to permit said 

